January 2013

Sooooo, it has been a while since my last post!  I am hoping that I will be able to post a bit more often now.  I guess that's what happens post-baby . . . time just flies by!!

I flew back up to Repulse Bay last March, when my baby girl was about 10 months old.  Living in the north with a baby can be rewarding, although it does come with some challenges!  Because of paperwork, etc. my husband was about a month later heading up north.  It was not easy being a single mom in the north for that month; it seemed like an eternity!  But, we made it.  I was happy to be back in the classroom again with my grade 4's.  The best thing about living in the north with my husband and baby is the time that we can spend together.  We have no driving around to worry about and plenty of blizzard days and lazy weekends when we can hang out or go out on the land.  We are also lucky to have great friends up here to spend time with as well as have play dates with our kids. 

I've posted a few pictures from last March to June, 2012.  I hope to get caught up with the past few months in the near future as well.

Enjoying a beautiful sunny day

Lily's first birthday- igloo cake

Mother's Day gift

I spy a baby!

Winter 2011

So, Chris and I have been up to a few things lately. We have some pics to share from our walks around town, as well as some school activities that I have been a part of.

The first set of pics are from Chris and I walking around town. The local dog sledding committee built an igloo out on the ice. To celebrate, they were serving tea, bannock, caribou and char to anyone who wanted to visit.

Inside the igloo. There were some women cooking, so it was a bit cloudy.

The igloo roof (to let the smoke out). Later, it was rebuilt as it was starting to cave in a bit.

The igloo was packed down with snow on the outside. Afterward, they sprayed water to make it stronger. They are now storing seals carcasses inside (like a freezer).

Chris wearing his "Northern" mitts. They were made mostly from wolf hide, with some wolverine, baby seal and rabbit.

There was a winter carnival in town last weekend, which included a fishing derby (for ugly fish- sculpin), 2 dog sledding races, a BBQ, teen dance, a square dance, as well as some other activities.

Some homemade caribou jackets/pants

The ice was pretty thick! Over 6ft deep.

A couple of weeks ago, the teachers had a week off of school for Professional Improvement. A number of teachers at our school decided to make some traditional Inuit clothing. Some of us made parkas, kamiks (boots), and I made an amouti (jacket for carrying a baby). The back of the hood doubles down so that a baby can fit in and I am still able to pull up the hood. It was a lot of work!! Traditionally, they were made from caribou hides.

I was part of a team of people that were flown from Repulse Bay to Sanikiluaq to check out the new high school that was built there. They are considering building the same high school in Repulse, so we were there to see what we could do to make changes suitable for the needs of the students in Repulse. We were flown to Iqaluit first, then had a charter plane to Sanikiluaq for the day. It was a pretty neat experience. While we were there, we visited the current school, which had some cool items in their lobby.

One of two polar bears that were on display.

Sanikiluaq is known for its reed baskets. I bought one from the local Co-op store made by Annie Cookie. I didn't know that when we returned to the school that she would be there! I got a picture of her with the basket that I had just purchased.

Here are a few pictures from a class walk that I took with my students today. Some people in town built an ice rink out on the ice. The local Zamboni even came down to clean up the ice! We were lucky to witness it out on the ice today while we were taking pictures at the igloo.

This and That - Fall 2010

I was lucky enough to be able to drag my boyfriend up north with me (even if it was only for two months)! We were lucky that he is a nurse and the community was happy to have him on board. While Chris was in town we tried to get out on the land and do as much exploring as possible (without getting gobbled up by a polar bear).
Here are some pictures from his visit:
















Chris' first caribou


Andy's first caribou (4 years old!)

Bowhead Whale Hunt

The team bringing the whale into shore


Yet again, another overdue blog. Better late than never!

This summer, the hamlet of Repulse Bay had one tag for a bowhead whale. The team had been put together months in advance. The hunt began in the middle of August. There were some weather issues including fog and ice floes, but the hunt was successful. The team hunted the whale on a Saturday night and brought the carcass into town early Sunday morning with gospel singers welcoming them ashore.

The whale was about 47 ft long. The people cut away the blubber which was eaten by the townspeople as well as given to other local communities. I did taste the blubber, but am sorry to say that I was not a big fan. Chris cut some up and pickled it. I haven't tried it yet, but he said that it was pretty good. I think I'll take his word for it.

One downside of having a HUGE whale carcass a mile outside of town was that the smell had a luring effect on polar bears. Needless to say, one had to be cautious around town! Several polar bears were shot around this time, as well as new tags issued to the elders to shoot any polar bears that are near the town. A local RCMP man was almost run down by a bear had it not been for his quick shooting partner!!

Below are some pictures of the bowhead whale hunt aftermath:


The baleen shining in the sunlight







Students posing with the jaw bone from 2005

Back to the north

View of Repulse Bay from the air

Well, I am back up north! School started on August 5th, so I have been pretty busy getting everything organized and put together for my class. I am still the grade 4 teacher and it looks like it is going to be another great year. I am also the computer contact person now, so that is keeping me busy!
I have also moved to a new apartment and I have a new roommate - Chris, my better half! We really like the apartment and are settling in nicely. Chris just started work last weekend as the local homecare nurse. He is liking that so far. Right now he is planning to stay up here until the middle of October. I will probably be home for Christmas, then come back up to finish up the school year.
Other than work and school, Chris and I have been able to go out on the land and by boat to see some pretty cool local wildlife. Chris was out in a boat with a local man and they saw two polar bears close up in the water! We saw another polar bear while on a boat trip with the staff from our school, although it was pretty far away.
Our first weekend up here we went out for a long walk just south of town. Someone went flying past us on an ATV and told us that there were some whales swimming off of the shore not far from where we were. So, Chris and I followed them and we got to see some narwhals swimming around. Several boats were out in the water as well . . . we weren't sure if they were just watching or if they were hunters (I knew that the locals had already had a big narwhal hunt a couple weeks ago and they used all of their tags). The boats surrounded the whales and brought them right in to shore not far from where we were. We watched as one of the men harpooned a narwhal! It just happened that he was from Rankin Inlet and he had a tag to kill it. I think narwhal are beautiful animals, but it was still pretty cool to see them hunt it (I am a hunter as well so maybe that's why it didn't bother me). They brought it in to shore and Chris and I asked if we could watch as they cut it up. The guy was really friendly and let us watch and take pictures. We even got to eat some of the skin/blubber. It wasn't that tasty but I had to try it once!
Repulse Bay has been given one tag for a bowhead whale! They get a tag about once every five years, so this is a pretty big deal!! The hunt started on the 16th and they are able to use the tag until December (hopefully it doesn't take that long!). The weather has not been very cooperative as we have had rain, fog, and recently the wind blew the ice right into the shore so no one can go out in a boat at all. It is supposed to be really windy (from the north) the next couple of days, so that may help to get rid of all the ice. A couple of men have offered to take Chris out on their boat when the whale has been killed. In case you are not aware of how big a bowhead whale is, they are the second largest whale in the world! They can get up to 66ft and weigh over 130 tonnes!! They are also the longest living mammal as they can live to be up to 200 years old.
The teacher's boat trip last weekend was a lot of fun. We stopped at the harbour islands (where we saw the polar bear running away over a hill). The whalers used to camp out on these islands as they helped to shelter them from the wind during the cold winter months. They would be stuck there after the ice came in. There were some graves there and even some human bones exposed to the elements. We had to drive around hundreds or thousands of huge chunks of ice floating around the water. We also saw a seal and a caribou and the guides did some Arctic char fishing (with nets). We had a delicious fish dinner that night!
Other than that, Chris and I have just been doing a lot of walking and exploring near town, but not too far out of town as we don't have a gun yet and don't want to get eaten by a polar bear!
I'm sure I have missed something, but I will write more in my next entry.
Here are some pictures from the last 3 weeks:

Arctic ground squirrel (siksik)

Narwhal head and tusk

View of town

A skull from one of the whalers with offerings (bullets, smokes, a pocket knife)